BOSTON  David Ortiz's first hit of the Division Series was a memorable one. Ortiz's two-run double gave the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 win against the Oakland Athletics in Sunday's Game 4 of their Division Series at Fenway Park. Ortiz was 0-for-16 going into the at-bat. (Related item: Game report)

David Ortiz delivers the game-winning hit for the Red Sox.

By Jim Rogash, AP

"I don't think I was struggling," Ortiz said. "I'm just not hitting the ball where I want to. We face the best pitching in the American League, and they make good pitches. If I was struggling, I don't think I would have hit the ball to win the game."

Throughout the series, A's closer Keith Foulke had been getting Ortiz to chase high fastballs. And at around 90 mph, those pitches, Ortiz said, aren't easy for him to hit. So when Foulke started Ortiz with high fastballs, the designated hitter decided not to swing.

"I knew that he's going to change it," Ortiz said. "I tried looking for the pitch at my hip level. I think I hit a ball that curved in on me."

Ortiz, a left-handed batter who played for the Minnesota Twins last season, led the Red Sox during the regular season with 42 two-out RBI and 24 go-ahead RBI. So when he wasn't able to deliver in the first three games against Oakland, his teammates tried to pick him up.

Just before Sunday's decisive at-bat, Red Sox batting coach Ron Jackson gave Ortiz a short pep talk in the dugout.

"I said, 'Hey, you can't worry about the past, you can't worry about the future,' " Jackson said. " 'Just concentrate on getting a ball you can hit.' "

Said second baseman Todd Walker: "It doesn't matter what the stats say about David Ortiz. We know he can hit. You don't bat an eye when Ortiz is up."

Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon said he was telling Ortiz to keep his head up, that he has a chance to be the AL's MVP. Damon said that 0-for-16 doesn't make or break a season, "But that one hit you got certainly does."

Batters said it was difficult to see the ball in the eighth inning because of the shadows that had crept into Fenway Park. Ortiz could relate.

"All you can see is like a black point coming right at me," he said.

Fenway Park was quiet when the Red Sox started the eighth inning. With one out, Nomar Garciaparra hit a double off the Green Monster. Todd Walker flied out, and Manny Ramirez hit a single. Up stepped Ortiz, whose line drive turned Dye in a circle before it hit the bottom of the fence in right field.

As the Red Sox hurried around the clubhouse packing for a cross-country trip to Oakland, they were buzzing with the rally, the bullpen and the fact that their ace, Pedro Martinez, would pitch in Game 5 Monday night.